Enough is Enough!

Those who know me well know I'm not very good at staying quiet, so today I am going to reaffirm that by posting this out there.

In a few places around our country today the marchformoko was held where people attended a walk, making a stand, demanding better protection of our children. I couldn't attend the Hamilton one, but wished I could, so instead I have changed my profile pictures away from the beautiful pictures of my beautiful, amazingly loved children, to messages saying 'enough is enough'.

Because ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

New Zealand has the fifth worst child abuse record out of 31 OE

CD Countries, and that is disgusting, we are doing something wrong!

More than 30,000 NZers got together to march against the TPPA (great!) but what is it going to take to get that many people to STAND TOGETHER against child abuse? Don't quietly sit by and discuss your opinions and ideas around a small dinner table, lets stand side by side in our streets, in the schools, it's time to make some drastic changes!

I don't have the answers, I don't know how to change it, but clearly what we are doing isn't working! Maybe we start with tougher sentencing (currently it's a bit of a joke if you ask me), or less 'second (or third or fourth) chances' for parents. More support for parents? More help?
The children of this nation, are this nations future, it's about time we start looking after them ALL.

Speak out! Speak up! Make your voice heard, for the sake of those not listened to, for the sake of our children and our future.

Happy Mother's Day 2016

This Mother’s day, we know of a family who, earlier this week, had to say goodbye to their little one just a couple of weeks before they were due to meet her, and it has reminded me of my first Mother’s day.

5 years ago I had my first Mother’s Day. My baby had come, but she had also gone and I wondered if I was still a ‘mum’ and I learned some big lessons about motherhood. Firstly, I learned just how many different forms there are that mothers come in and once a mother, always a mother.

Mother’s day 2011, for me, wasn’t about holding my child close, getting extra snuggles and revelling in how amazing my baby was, or liking the extra sleep in that day. It wasn’t about handmade presents and breakfast in bed. It was about remembering  a life that had already come and gone, a life that was too short, but a life that changed the person I was, and the person I would be tomorrow, a life that made me a mother and a mum. It was about taking joy in the life that was and everything she had given us, but there was a level of grieving for what would never be.

This Mother’s day, 2016, I did find joy in a sleep in, in the wonderful, handmade gifts and cards, this year I get plenty of snuggles. But there is always something missing, not just on Mother’s Day, but every day, Lily left a hole that can never be filled or fixed, she can never be replaced.

Don’t get me wrong, my life is awesome, amazing, fantastic, I love it! But something will always be missing.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there, those holding their children and those who can't, to the mother's to be and the mother's who should be.

Happy? Bereaved Mothers Day

I hope you took a moment today to send some love to a special mum you know. 

And to all those mums blowing kisses into the wind and hoping they get to our babies, this journey is a tough one. You are strong and you have the strength to continue to walk this walk, even if you have to take pauses along the way. 
xx